


Liar Liar Redux: A Liar Liar AU Fanfiction

by Alicorn8210



Category: Liar Liar (1997)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Am I spoiling too much, Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Atoning for Past Mistakes, Courtroom Drama except it's not actually in the courtroom, Emotional, Emotional Baggage, Emotional Hurt, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Guy who usually flirts with women doesn't this time because he's too upset, Hurt/Comfort, My First AO3 Post, Rated T for some cursing, let me know, weird i know
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-16
Updated: 2020-04-16
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:20:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23686804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alicorn8210/pseuds/Alicorn8210
Summary: An AU where, in the middle of the Cole case, Judge Stevens calls a recess. What follows is Fletcher meeting a very kind and supportive girl who just may help him figure out what's most important to him...
Comments: 4
Kudos: 2





	Liar Liar Redux: A Liar Liar AU Fanfiction

**Author's Note:**

> This is an AU fic for the movie Liar Liar, in which Fletcher reaches his epiphany that he reaches at the end of the Cole case earlier on and for different reasons. It’s also a self-insert, as a character similar to myself is what causes his epiphany. I absolutely loved this movie, and I hope you enjoy my take on it!

Fletcher was stuck. All day long he had been like this. He couldn’t make himself lie. And it was all because of Max. More than anything Fletcher wanted to be mad at his son for making this day the worst day of his life. But he couldn’t. Not when his son was the thing he cared about the most. And he would be leaving him...forever.

Fletcher internally shook himself out of those thoughts. _Let’s not think about that right now, Fletcher,_ he told himself. _Right now, all that matters is winning Mrs. Cole’s case,_

But how could he win if he couldn’t lie? Deep down, Fletcher knew that Samantha Cole was an asshole, and how could he defend an asshole?

Suddenly, it struck him. _I’ll find a loophole!_ he realized. But what would that be? He needed more time, but Fletcher knew that the judge wouldn’t allow it-he was getting fed up with him.

So there he sat, his face on the table, making the weirdest noises that anyone in the courtroom had ever heard.

Judge Stevens eyed Fletcher with his usual dry disapproval. “Mr. Reede, given the current...emotional state you’re in, I’d like to offer a fifteen-minute recess so you can gain your composure. Would you be OK with that?”

Fletcher shot up like a lightning bolt. “YES, YOUR HONOR!” he screamed so loudly that the rest of the room had to cover their ears. Fletcher bolted out of the room before the judge had even called the recess.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fletcher sat helplessly and hopelessly on a bench in the courthouse lobby, his face buried in his hands. His mind was churning and burning, but nothing was coming out. He felt a single, cold, sloppy tear plop onto his hand before falling headfirst to the ground.

“Excuse me, sir?”

Fletcher’s mind stopped for a moment. His eyes darted up to see a young woman with brown hair that fell to her shoulders and large, round tortoiseshell glasses. She wore a pink smart suit with a purple tie, a pink-and-white striped pencil skirt, and black high heels. She was definitely beautiful, and while Fletcher would normally start feeling horny, or, on this particular day, make some inappropriate comment, right now he was too upset to.

So instead, he stifled his frustrated tears and said, “Yeah?”

The woman looked at him, a whirlwind of concern in her eyes. “Well, I WAS going to ask you where the bathroom was, but I think the more important question is...are you alright?”

For what was maybe the 500th time that day, Fletcher struggled as the truth forced itself up his throat. But instead of coming out as some big exclamation, like it had for this entire day, now it just came out as a weak cry for help in the form of, “No. No, I’m not,”

The woman sat down next to him. “What happened?” Her voice was ripe with worry.

“I…” The words were all tangled up in his mouth, but eventually, they spat themselves out. “I can’t lie,”

The woman gave him a look that he had been getting all day. “I beg your pardon?”

“I can’t lie. You see, my son’s birthday was yesterday, and when he blew out his candles, he made a wish that, for one day, I couldn’t lie. Well, it came true, and it’s been KILLING me!”

“Huh,” The woman stared at the floor. “Now I have to ask you something, and this is a completely honest question that I mean...is not being able to lie really such a bad thing?”

“YES!” Fletcher roared, his frustration and fury finally coming out fully. “I’ve built my whole career around lying, so now that I can’t lie...and now the recess is about to end and I don’t know what to do...and then there’s my son...oh, my son...I love him to death. But he’s going to Boston, and I’m never gonna see him. I had him, right there, and I didn’t seize that opportunity because I didn’t realize what I had. I’ve been such a bad father. I’ve been...I’ve been such a BITCH!” Fletcher buried his face in his hands again, sobbing his eyes out.

The woman rubbed his back gently. “Hey, hey-it’s OK. Everything’s gonna be fine. Listen, I...I get it. Regret is a pain in the ass for sure. But I know that you know that you’ve changed. I can tell-I’ve been watching you,”

Fletcher’s head shot up. “Huh?”

“You see, I work here on the same floor you do. 3 months. You probably just didn’t notice me ‘cause I’m so quiet,” She laughed. “I’ve noticed how you’ve acted. I could tell you were constantly lying through your teeth. But today, when you came in, when you said all those things, I could tell something had changed. I couldn’t tell exactly WHAT, but what I DID know is that you were no longer lying. And not only had your words become more honest, your emotions had, too. You seemed to truly CARE about things that you wouldn’t have cared about before. And the way you talked about your son just now was so full of honest love and affection. So I think you’ve changed, Mr. Fletcher Reede. And that’s the absolute truth,”

Fletcher wiped the tears away from his eyes. He impulsively hugged the woman, squeezing her oh-so-tightly. She squeezed him right back even harder.

Finally, Fletcher let go. Still in awe, he asked, “Wha...what’s your name?” with an earnestly enormous grin.

“Chloe,” the woman replied. “Chloe Fisher,”

“Thank you, Chloe,” Fletcher responded. “Thank you,”

They both stood up. Chloe, glancing at her watch, asked, “Shouldn’t you be getting back to the courtroom now?”

Fletcher, in jubilant exasperation, said, “I’ve got more important things to do,” and ran off toward the front doors.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Kudos, bookmarks, and comments about what you liked are GREATLY appreciated!


End file.
